


königlich

by freckleder



Category: ACCA13区監察課 | ACCA 13-ku Kansatsuka
Genre: Drabble, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Post-Canon, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 23:56:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10582122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckleder/pseuds/freckleder
Summary: In which Jean and Nino have a late-night talk on Jean's balcony.





	

_königlich - royal_

 

“Yes, I’m eating properly. Nino always accompanies me to restaurants in the evening.” Jean was leaning against the rail of his balcony, his left hand casually dangling over the abyss where the wind would occasionally graze it.

A few clouds were in the sky, tarnishing the clear view of the stars.

“Do you know how much longer you’ll be travelling?”

A short pause before he got his reply.

“Of course, just let me know when you’ll be back so I can pick you up from the airport.”

“Yeah. Stay safe. Good night.”

Jean closed his flip-phone and put it in his left pocket where it made a tiny clanking noise as it hit his lighter.

He reached for the cigarette in the pocket of his shirt, where he put it in wise foresight, half an hour ago. It was windy on the balcony, but the process of lighting a cigarette had become a routine that even the forces of nature couldn’t disrupt.

He took a slow drag when the door from his apartment opened and someone stepped on the balcony. A jacket was carefully laid over his shoulders. He glanced to his left to see Nino assuming a similar position as his, next to him.

“What did Lotta say? Is she well?”

Jean nodded. “She enjoys travelling and she’s not sure when she’ll be back yet. I think a change of scenery is exactly what she needs.”

“A trait she shares with her mother.”

Jean shrugged.

He had given it some thought. He could ask Nino questions about his mother, about her life before she came to Badon. He had been young but he had been there the whole time. He exhaled, letting the smoke of the cigarette slowly waft out between his lips. “I’ve been thinking of getting a better security system.”

Nino raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. “But I thought the assassins triggered the alarm when they tried to break in?”

“Yes, the entire complex was in an uproar. But I want Lotta to feel save, even when I’m not at home.” Jean watched the clouds drift by, revealing stars whenever they moved.

“I’m sure she’d tell you if that were the case.”

They fell silent for a moment.

Jean knew that Nino was watching him intently. He wondered if he never noticed it because he had gotten so used to Nino always being by his side. He remembered the countless times in high school when he turned around, ready to scan the classroom for Nino, and he had already been by his side, meeting his gaze.

“I should’ve know…” He eventually murmured.

“Should’ve know what?” Nino asked, tilting his head a bit to one side.

Jean gave him an enigmatic smile. “You were always too mature and handsome to be still a teenager, prom king.” He laughed, in his short and subtle manner, that Nino had learned to read over the past decades.

A smile tugged on the corners of Nino’s lips but it was only short-lived. „You weren’t surprised or angry that I trailed you and reported your every move.”

“Surprised yes, but I had no reasons to harbour any negative feelings towards you. I had nothing to hide. No secrets that you didn’t already know of, even before I did. “Jean laughed dryly. He played with the lighter in his left pocket. “Where you never afraid that even the tiniest slip of the tongue could end it all?”

Nino blinked a few times before he tore his gaze away from Jean and directed it towards the sky. “No. Your family was such an important treasure to my father. After you were born it was all he could talk about. _‘The prince has taken his first steps!’ ‘The prince is going to attend kindergarten!’_ I was cautious enough to not make a mistake, and since you’re a lightweight when it comes to drinking I didn’t have to worry about rambling when I was drunk.” His voice had a wistful note.

They were both hit by a wave of memories, slowly forcing their way in the foreground.

Jean thought of that moment when they had been sitting outside during prom, the chatter of the guests and the music coming from the hall in the distance. He hadn’t understood what Nino had meant when he had put the prom king’s crown on his head, but now it became clear.

“How old were you when you enrolled in high school?”

“25.”

Jean shook his head and laughed again. Nino joined him. They weren’t laughing because it was funny, but because of the absurdity of the situation.

The events of the last weeks finally caught up to them. It seemed ridiculous that everything worked out the way Jean had planned. There had been so many factors, so many parties involved and yet...

Jean stared down at the lighter in his hand. The red bird with the green leaf in its beak. An allegory for the changes that happened and that were bound to occur.

A hand reached for the lighter and plucked it out of Jean’s. Nino turned it around, watching as the lighter fluid followed his movements, flowing from one corner to the other.

“Aren’t you in pain? We should go inside,” Jean interrupted him. He was still recovering, it would take at least a month or two for his injuries to heal completely.

Nino shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Jean gave him a concerned look but he dismissed it with a short motion of his hand.

He took Jean’s hand and placed the lighter in it, before entangling their fingers with each other. He looked at Jean, a rare seriousness and intensity glimmering in his eyes.

“There’s one thing I promise. I won’t leave your side, no matter what.” Nino saw that Jean about to interrupt him but he silenced him with one hand and continued talking. “I’m not doing it because I’m feeling a sense of obligation. It is purely my own decision. Because _I_ want to.”

Jean returned his gaze. Nino could tell that he had taken him by surprise. After a second he regained his composure and he spoke with a lightness in his voice that didn’t reflect the severity of their conversation. “Then I’ll stay by your side as well. That way we’re even.”

Nino’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn’t expected that answer. He had predicted Jean to refuse and argue against it. The smile that flashed across his face showed that he enjoyed Nino’s baffled reaction and he gave him a little nudge in response.

“You’re having fun, aren’t you?”

Jean cocked his head to one side. “Yes, but so are you. Now let’s get you inside before you catch a cold.”

Jean finished his cigarette and extinguished it at the ashtray on the table before they returned inside, their hands still intertwined.

**Author's Note:**

> I finished watching ACCA today and I love the dynamic between Jean and Nino, so I felt like delving into that and writing this short drabble. I hope you enjoyed it!!


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